Forget forking out for expensive creams in the hope they’ll protect against wrinkles, banish puffy circles, or rejuvenate a rapidly ageing complexion.

According to top nutritionist and skin specialist Karen Fischer, all that time, effort and expense could be completely wasted if you kick off your day with a slice of buttered toast or plan to end it with a pan-seared steak.

While we have long known that sun damage and cigarette smoke speed up skin ageing, dermatologists have recently pinpointed the biggest ageing trigger of all — destructive molecules called Advanced Glycation End products (or AGEs).

Top nutritionist and skin specialist Karen Fischer has designed a 28-day diet to a youthful appearance. Picture posed by model

As we revealed in our Sugar Detox series earlier this year, too much sugar in the blood causes glucose molecules to attach to the proteins in collagen (the glue that holds your skin together) to form AGEs. These sticky brown compounds stiffen the otherwise elastic fibres in the skin, creating lines, blotches and wrinkles.

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But sugar is far from the only ageing culprit in our diet. For her new book, Younger Skin In 28 Days, Fischer has scoured hundreds of scientific studies to name and shame other common foods and cooking methods that contain high levels of AGEs or contribute to the AGE-making process in the body.

THE DAILY DIET LIMITS

Rather than calorie counting, we should be AGE-counting — consuming no more than 5,000-8,000 kilounits (kU) a day (Western diets contain an average of 15,000).

Given a 100g piece of pan-fried steak contains 10,000 kU, and a fried egg 1,000 kU more than a poached egg, it’s easy to see how quickly the toxins — and the wrinkles — accumulate.

But dark- purple and red fruits and vegetables, such as purple sprouting broccoli, red cabbage, beetroot, aubergines and berries, contain powerful antioxidants called anthocyanins that help protect against AGE-formation.

Eat several portions a day and swap green salad leaves for purple ones, white onions for red onions, and rice for red quinoa.

Her message is clear. If you have prematurely ageing skin, dullness, discoloration, deep lines or drooping jowls, you could be unwittingly eating too many AGEs — which are common in animal products, and increase exponentially when food is fried, grilled, pasteurised or smoked.

Here comes the good news: you can protect your skin, and even reverse some of the damage by consciously minimising your intake of AGE-increasing foods — such as red meat, dairy products, processed food and all forms of sugar and sweeteners — and filling your diet with foods that have natural skin-boosting properties — such as purple, red or black fruit and vegetables, beans and wholegrains.

‘The best weapon against skin ageing is your fork,’ explains Fischer. ‘Eating the right foods supplies your skin with the nutrients it needs to produce new collagen, fight AGEs and look healthier and younger.’

Indeed, her 28-day plan is so timed because, she says, it takes 28 days for your body to produce new skin cells in the deeper layers of the skin and for them to travel to the surface.

So, can eating the right foods really take years off your appearance in just a few weeks?

We decided to put Fischer’s fast-track plan to the test by asking two women to try the diet for 28 days while continuing their usual skincare routine. Before they started, we assessed theirskin using both a Visia scanner — which measures wrinkles, sun damage, redness and pore size — and a TruAge scanner, which is clinically proven to measure levels of AGEs in the body.

We repeated the tests at the end of the month to see if there were marked improvements.

The results were astonishing — as you’ll see in our two guinea pigs’ stories (bottom of article).

THE PLAN

The diet kicks off with a three-day detox — no meat or caffeine but unlimited fruit and vegetables (raw if possible) — before easing into a pattern of healthy eating; re-introducing small amounts of caffeine, poultry and fish but steering clear of dairy, sugar and alcohol.

After a hearty breakfast, Fischer recommends filling half of your lunch and dinner plates with vegetables, one quarter with low-AGE protein, such as chicken, fish, beans or lentils, and the other quarter with low-AGE carbohydrates, such as sweet potato, basmati rice, quinoa or spelt.

For dessert, she favours anti- oxidant-rich fruits such as pomegranate, guava, banana, papaya or any berries (frozen are fine).

SKIN-SAVING COOKING

You can potentially halve your AGE intake by changing the way you prepare food in the first place:

l COOK SLOWLYThe searing heat used in baking, grilling, barbecueing and frying causes browning, which increases AGE formation, especially in foods that are rich in protein and fats. Cooking with liquids at lower temperatures makes a big difference, so switch to poaching, boiling, steaming and making soups, curries, stews and casseroles.

l MARINATE IN LEMON AND LIME

Marinating meat and fish in acidic ingredients — like fresh lemon or lime juice — before cooking protects the food from forming too many AGEs during the cooking process. You can also add the juices to drinks and salad dressings.

l SPICE THINGS UP

Turmeric, cumin, ginger, cloves and cinnamon are all excellent at inhibiting AGE formation. Add them to casseroles and curries, pop a piece of fresh ginger or a few cloves into your tea, and sprinkle cinnamon on porridge or add to smoothies.

l ADD APPLE CIDER VINEGAR

Unlike other vinegars, studies show apple cider vinegar can lower blood sugar, which reduces AGE production. Dilute a tablespoon in water and add to soups and stews, or use it to make salad dressings.

Extracted from Younger Skin In 28 Days by Karen Fischer (Exisle Publishing, £12.95).

My skin’s softer and brighter

OLD SKIN AGE: 39

NEW SKIN AGE: 33

Kate Habberley, 42, works for a small communications consultancy and lives in Oxfordshire with her husband Jeremy and their two young sons.

Kate Habberley, 42, has a busy lifestyle which meant her diet suffered

Busy mum Kate was used to starting her day with toast, butter and marmalade. For lunch she’d typically have a cup of soup and oatcakes, followed by an afternoon of snacking on biscuits, crisps and chocolate. For dinner, she’d eat whatever her husband was cooking — usually man-sized portions of pasta.

Before starting the 28-day plan, she said: ‘I’m overeating on a regular basis, and am indulging in far too much unhealthy food.

‘I am a stone overweight, and I think my skin feels and looks older than my years — it is lacklustre and dull with an infuriating combination of wrinkles, blemishes and frequent breakouts.’

Kate is not a big meat-eater or wine lover — but she did miss dairy products and her beloved sugar while she was on the diet.

‘I was becoming a proper sugar addict — I’d happily work my way through a packet of Hobnobs or chocolate digestives, and end most days with a whole packet of wine gums or a chocolate bar,’ she says.

‘Quitting sugar took some getting used to.

‘I had a major strop about two weeks into the diet when we were out as a family and everyone else was tucking into tea and cakes. Because the cafe didn’t have soya milk, I had to endure black coffee and a smoothie.’ But it was worth the effort. At the end of the 28-day experiment, Kate’s TruAge score dropped six years to just 33 (meaning the AGE activity in her body is like a 33-year-old’s) and her Visia scan showed a 9 per cent reduction in redness, fewer enlarged pores and an improved skin texture.

Impressed: Kate Habberley's skin has fewer enlarged pores and a 9 per cent reduction in redness

As an added bonus, the weight fell off. When she jumped on the scales at the end of the trial she’d lost nearly 12lb — much of it from around her tummy. She told us: ‘I’m absolutely thrilled with the results. And as the month progressed, I found it increasingly liberating not to be dogged by sugar cravings.

‘I’ve really enjoyed the salads and the soups, discovering the joys of pomegranate juice and the delicious taste of sweet potato when roasted with lemon juice and a brush of olive oil.

‘I feel much, much healthier. My energy levels have soared, I’m sleeping better — and I didn’t need the scan results to tell me my skin is softer, brighter and clearer.’ The change is so significant that Kate plans to stick to the basics of the diet long-term.

She says: ‘I might be tempted by the odd slice of toast now and again, and nothing is going to convince me that quinoa is my friend, but I’m happy to stick to soya milk rather than cows’ milk and keep an eye on my sugar intake.

‘I wouldn’t want to go back to my old way of eating and its impact on my skin.’

My red blotching has gone

OLD SKIN AGE: 49

NEW SKIN AGE: 46

Debra Cull, 54, a florist, lives in Buckinghamshire with her husband John.

Debra Cull, 54, described her old diet as 'toxic'

Debra's old diet was, in her own words, a toxic mix of burnt toast (‘the more burnt the better — with lots of butter!’) and deli meats (‘I love a tapas-style supper of chorizo, salami and cheeses, washed down with a glass of wine’).

But she was conscious that her fair, freckled skin was rapidly showing signs of age.

Before embarking on the 28-day plan, she said: ‘I really love gardening and I spend a lot of time outdoors. Although I wear sunscreen when it’s hot, I don’t wear a hat as often as I should, which I’m sure has contributed to premature ageing of my skin.

‘I hope the diet will slow down the wrinkling a bit, and perhaps reduce the redness I get from hot flushes.

‘In fact, I hope the diet might help settle my errant hormones and calm those flushes, as they’re beginning to dog my days and nights.’

After just one week on the plan, Debra was already seeing results. ‘My skin seemed fresher, clearer — not so ruddy or crepey around the eyes,’ she said.

Spurred on by the changes, she stuck to the diet rigidly, even making her own spelt flatbreads and ‘experimenting with purple foods I didn’t even know existed’.

At the end of the 28 days, Debra’s TruAge had dropped three years to 46, and the Visia scan showed a 6 per cent improvement in her skin texture, an 11 per cent reduction in open pores, and a significant drop in redness. She was also delighted to discover she’d lost 5lb over the month.

Most exciting of all, she says, was that the hot flushes she was regularly experiencing during the day and night stopped completely for the duration of the experiment.

Relieved: Debra Cull is overjoyed that her hot flushes have vanished and the redness on her face has reduced

‘I am really pleased with the impact this diet has had,’ she says.

‘Not only do I feel healthier — my energy levels have noticeably increased — but I can see that my skin looks healthier, too. And the absence of flushes has been quite a revelation.

‘I’ve also been eating a lot of poached chicken and salmon, and far, far more vegetables and salads than I used to. I’m now much more aware of what I eat, and I’m really keen to keep the diet going as much as I can.

‘But even though I’m sure quitting alcohol has been one of the most significant factors in my skin’s improvement, life is too short to stop drinking wine for ever!’

VISIA analysis is available at The Cosmetic Imaging Studio, West London (thecosmeticimagingstudio. com). Information about TruAge scanners is at morinda.com/en-gb

YOUR SEVEN-DAY ANTI-AGEING MENU

Bowl of sweet potato salad

DAY ONE

Breakfast: Quinoa porridge (red or white quinoa cooked for 15-20 mins with soya or almond milk, water and a splash of vanilla essence) topped with berries or banana and sprinkled with cinnamon and linseeds or chia seeds.

Lunch: Sweet potato salad (above). Brush a sweet potato with lemon juice and olive oil then roast until soft. Serve with a large salad dressed with a lemon juice and apple cider vinegar dressing, sprinkled with black sesame seeds.

Lunch: Watercress soup. Simmer potato and red onion with garam masala and fresh ginger in organic vegetable stock until soft. Add a large bunch of watercress. Cook for a few minutes, then add a squeeze of lemon juice and blend until smooth. Serve with a dollop of hummus and a sprig of watercress.

Dinner: Sweet potato salad.

DAY FOUR

Breakfast: Two scrambled eggs on a bed of watercress with wholemeal bread.